As the world enters another week of lockdown conditions in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the fuller implications of so much time out of our normal daily routines are beginning to show.
There is a lot of interest on the impact of the situation on our personal relationships – within marriages and partnerships, with our children and of course, when it comes to elderly parents and family members who have been severely affected by the quarantine conditions.
Knowing how to help when seeing them could potentially endanger their health is an unprecedented situation for families to negotiate. So, how can you help and support your older loved ones within the lockdown restrictions?
Keeping Germs At Bay
As the immune systems of elderly people aren’t as strong, and their health can be more severely affected by viruses and infections, good hygiene methods are always extremely important, and never more so than when it comes to the current coronavirus situation.
Hygiene methods will vary depending on whether you have decided to self-isolate with your elder relatives, or are living as separate households. If living separately, you must try and find other ways to support and stay in contact other than in-person visits, which is a big challenge.
If you are living together, make sure to implement extra precautions around the house, such as washing your hands thoroughly before and after helping with any personal care, using a hand sanitizer gel, getting a toothbrush sterilizer or keeping toothbrushes in sealed Ziploc bags, and wiping surfaces and handles down each day with antibacterial spray.
Offer Tech Support
Whether living apart or together, one thing our elder loved ones frequently struggle with is technology, and it can do a lot to enhance their lives. Whether it’s helping them to place an online order for their grocery shopping, dropping off food at their home, or simply teaching them how to use apps like Zoom to stay in touch with friends and other family members, there can be a world of benefit.
Even if your relative is living in a care home or some kind of sheltered housing, you can order supplies to make their life easier, such as bathroom aids, hospital beds and hoists from a site like https://www.shelden-healthcare.co.uk. Simply being able to get their essentials delivered or give them some kind of treat to arrive on their doorstep can be invaluable.
Help With Medical Care
Our older loved ones are more likely to be living with ongoing medical conditions, and this can be hard to negotiate at the moment. GP surgeries are struggling to keep up, and current Government advice is to avoid attending in person in case of picking up the virus.
Help your loved one to cancel or postpone any medical appointments which are not urgent, or see if a telephone appointment is a possibility instead. If they need prescription medications, try to set them up an account with an online pharmacy that can fulfil prescriptions so they do not have to attend in person to pick up their items.
